


Wishing Well

by Anonymous



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Long, Sad, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 23:35:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15896427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Something is off with Mario, the only plumber and beloved hero in the Mushroom Kingdom, and his friends are determined to find out what.(Something I've been working on for a while, planning to try to keep this updated as often as possible. Canon divergent, slightly OOC for some characters but for good reason.)





	Wishing Well

The alarm clock buzzed; 7 AM.

Mario sat up, his striped red nightcap sliding off his head as it slumped onto the comforter. He grinned along with saying a joyous 'good morning' to nobody in particular, sliding off of the twin sized bed. He worked himself over to the closet to ready himself for the big day ahead, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes with a fist.

Mario cleaned himself up, suiting up in a nice blue t-shirt and short jeans along with the necklace he usually wore. Nothing that stood out too much, typical clothing. It was only the princess and the toads after all; they wouldn't mind if he went casual.

Breakfast was simple: pancakes, topped with banana slices. He sat alone at the dining table, the light shining in with the quiet chirping of the morning birds. Serene and uneventful, Mario enjoyed it to some extent. Not all of the ways did he like such an empty morning, although it's always been this way, so he shouldn't have been missing something he never knew, he said to himself in his thoughts.  
Washing the plate and the rest of the dishes, he slipped the pair of boots that sat near the door, marching out to town.

The walk wasn't long; he lived not even five minutes from the castle, waving to the occasional toad as he passed them by. The beaten dirt path in the village was bustling a little more than usual, which put a grin on Mario's face. It was a special day, after all, just for him.

Mario shuddered when a hand patted his back, turning around to see a familiar face.

"Ah! Toadsworth!" Mario put a smile back on his lips, accepting a sudden hug from the elder Toad.

Toadsworth gave Mario a tight hug before pulling away to speak, "Mario, Mario, Mario! Goodness me," he paused to push his glasses up onto his face, "I've been in this town three scores of years and I have had yet to have seen such an excitement in our humble little kingdom! What a day, you must feel overwhelmed over all this bustle over you."

The humanoid laughed quietly to himself, sticking his hands in his pockets as he began to walk along with the elder, "Ah. It's definitely something..." He kicked a stray rock towards the town square, the pebble clacking against the water well in the centre of it all. "It's an honour, honestly."

Toadsworth let out a hearty chuckle, "Ho ho! Well, we'll be seeing each other at the castle, will we not? Are you heading there now?" He nudged the other as he grinned and spoke, "Come on, lad, let's hurry on up. I heard the princess has something very special in mind for you!"

That put a decently authentic smile on Mario's face, continuing on his way with Toadsworth. "Really?" Mario pondered on what it could be...

The walk there was filled with usual banter; 'How's your day been?' 'Anything new?' 'How's business going?' It was the most Mario would chat about either way; he wasn't as outgoing socially as he was in his solitary adventures. Before he knew it, though, a large drawbridge descended in front of him, inviting him inside.

Mario raised a hand to his shocked face. A large banner cascaded along the top of the entryway, reading in big bold letters: "Thank you, Mario!" Below it, in the center of the room sat a beautiful cake tailored with similar lettering in icing. What a heart-touching scene! Such a display of gratitude! It made Mario tear up.

And he started crying, into his hands.

Sobbing.

The princess, who stood atop the dual set of stairs, gasped as she made her way down without haste next to the young hero who was currently bawling his eyes out. "Mario...?" She tapped his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He looked up with a forced, quivering smile on his face. "I-I wanna say it's because this is," he paused to sniffle, "this is really nice, but..." and it wasn't after he finished his sentence that he continued to cry. Peach sighed a knowing sigh, waving off some toads except for Toadsworth, who tagged along to the princess's room. 

She set Mario down on a soft chair in front of her vanity desk as he lifted his shirt to wipe his eyes upon the waist and hem. "Sorry."

Peach tsked, "Now, what's going on? I haven't seen you cry that hard since...ever, maybe?"

Mario huffed, "It's just overwhelming, is all. You know how it is."

A knowing glare came from the princess.

"...I don't want to talk about it." A nervous thumb dipped to the necklace on his collar, the rest of the chain under his shirt as he rubbed into the carved piece of quartz, "It's really just something personal..."

Toadsworth waddled over, "Well, what would that be, Mario? We really do just want to help." The elder toad gave the younger a pat on the shoulder, "it's the least we could do!"

Mario shrugged away from Toadsworth, looking between him and Peach. "It's..." he held back a choked sob with a weak smile, "It's really hard to explain. How about we just go back to the party, yeah?" He hastily picked himself up off the chair, to which the other two stared at him as he went toward the bedroom exit.

Peach let out a defeated whine, following out behind the hero to which Toadsworth followed out as well. The three put on a typical face for the toads of the kingdom, who cheered at the sight of the adventurer.

This was his party, and his alone.

-

It would have been a normal party any other way to Mario.

Everyone cheered and hooted all through the night, cake being eaten and drinks being downed. Music blared and lights shone through the great hall, and yet Mario sat impassively near the edges of the grand room. It was a sad sight to see: a party held specifically to celebrate him, and he couldn't enjoy it. One could only wonder why from afar without seeming rude.

Well...most people would think that. An exception was Peasley.

The Beanish prince sauntered up with a grin, leaning on the wall near Mario. "Now what do we have here, hmm?" The prince kneeled in closer before the other backed up with a groan.

"Get off, Peasley. Not in the mood." Mario lightly shoved the rivalling adventurer away as he moved a little closer to the exit, "I'm tired. Don't want to deal with this." Even though (somewhat) friendly teasing was tolerable on most other days, he was emotionally exhausted.

This only earned a chuckle from the prince, "And where are you headed? Aren't you forgetting something?" He strutted in front of the other, flicking his hair for dramatic effect as he said, "The party has hardly begun! You cannot just up and leave whenever you please, considering what the celebration is for, after all."

Mario grunted, looking to the floor as his expression glazed over. "I just have somewhere to be. Sorry." Abruptly, Peasley was shoved out of the way, and out went Mario on his glum path out the door, dodging past the curious and confused stares of the party guests.

-

"...and that's when he left!" Peasley groaned, "He wouldn't even talk with me much, it was the strangest thing." Said prince crossed his arms as he floated alongside the princess and the elder toad. The princess wrapped up the party early to go looking for their friend, who had went and left without even a goodbye.

"We spoke to him earlier, he wouldn't even tell us what was the matter..." Peach rubbed her chin as she thought, but looking ahead, she noticed a familiar blue-clad adventurer sitting next to the well, rubbing at his neck while he was slouched up next to the brick of the water well.

He seemingly hadn't noticed that the three had approached until they were towering above him, holding the end of his necklace in his fist. "Is there something you want?", he said with a monotone voice, "I told you I wasn't feeling it today, leave me be."

"Wait just one moment," Peach leaned down with a growl, "you have been acting like this all night and frankly I'm rather sick of it! You've had all of us worried and we just wanted to have a nice time, but no!" She folded up her parasol to whack it scarily close to Mario, jolting him out of his stormy haze, "You have to be all moping like this? Really?!"

Peasley floated between the two of them, "Now, princess. I don't think that will lift his mood at all, no?" He leaned down to Mario, who was currently balled up against the well, shivering. "My good friend, why don't you tell us the matter? We're all truly worried sick, you know."

Mario let out a sigh, bringing his hand to his chest as he rubbed the small charm on his necklace to calm himself. "I just kind of... Miss some things. I guess the whole party thing reminds me of," he wiped away some stray tears before continuing, "of home? Family. Yeah." He shrugged, wistfully muttering to himself, "I just really miss home."

Toadsworth pushed himself through the prince and princess to plop himself down next to Mario, "I know absolutely how you feel, lad!" He gave the other a friendly pat on the back as he rambled, "Back when I was your age, I was away from home most my time, seeing the world and helping people just like you. But, remember!" He grabbed Mario by the arm to turn him, looking straight at him with his brows furrowed in seriousness. "Your family will always be waiting for you, Mario. Being homesick is hard, but they'll always be there for your return. And you'll see them again!"

The thoughtful words were followed by silence, and then heavy sobbing.

"Oh, great." Peach grumbled, rolling her eyes. "You broke him." Toadsworth got up with a sigh, Peach taking his place next to Mario. "So it's about your family, huh?"

Mario nodded, a stuffed and snotty nose making it a little hard to form a coherent sentence.

Peach rested a gentle hand on the other, pulling him in for a hug. He only shrunk up more in response, though, so apparently that didn't help much. It was worth a try, the princess thought, before Mario shimmied off the princess's hold.

Mario rubbed tears off into the palm of his glove. "It's hard for me to talk about, I'm- I'm real sorry, princess, for acting up like this." He sighed, snorting and coughing to clear himself up. "I don't want to get too into it. I'll babble your ear off about it and it won't make much sense," to which he punctuated with a sad laugh.

The princess tilted her head, humming before she responded, "you know, you should relax some. You could come over for a night, since everyone's left; I know big parties can be a little hard on you with everything else that's going on..." She stood up to offer Mario a hand, "come on, let's go grab your things from your place to stay the night."

Mario's mouth twitched up into a small smile, taking the offered hand. "I...guess that'd be good. Better than being holed up like usual!" He finished the sentence with an awkwardly solemn laugh, standing up shakily and teary eyed.

Peasley hummed, stepping back into the conversation, "now, I really would like to stay and celebrate a little more, but I have a kingdom to return to." The prince chuckled as he took the princess's hand and gave it a peck, before turning to Mario and doing the same to his forehead, albeit without the same grace and respect. "You two stay safe and help this sad sack out, princess."

Mario huffed, pulling at the sleeves of his shirt idly as the prince made himself scarce. Peach chuckled to herself, watching Peasley take leave before turning to the other two. "Anyway, Toadsworth, I think I'll be taking Mario back to my castle tonight. I'm sorry to cut off your night like this."

He laughed before responding with a smile in his tone, "oh, it's no issue, princess! You take good care our friend here, I'll be glad to check back in with you two later." With that, he seemed to disappear into the night, leaving Peach and Mario to walk along the cobblestone roads under the moon.

Little conversation was made on the way to the hero's house, Mario keeping his head down most the way. Peach kept her parasol above them all the way on their trip. Mario fumbled with his keys, getting the door unlocked within an acceptable time and held it open for the princess before following behind. Flicking on the lights, the "somewhat messy but not abysmal" state of the house caught Toadstool off guard.

"You...live like this?" She gazed around with wide eyes. "It wasn't this messy when I last came over..."

Mario laughed solemnly. "I, ah... Don't have a lot of time to clean when I'm out and about."

The princess sighed with a roll of her eyes, stumbling across some clothes to the other's bedroom. Mario shuffled in before Peach could, shoving clothes and personal items into his backpack. She peeked in to see the shorter bustling around the room, shoving clothes under his bed and assorted items into cracks and crevices in the room. "Sorry, it's-- I never prepare for guests..."

She sighed, "I can see...at least we aren't staying at your house tonight." Her statement was punctuated with a chuckle.

The walk was silent.

At their arrival, the castle had dimmed and become quiet as guests left in due time. A few toads stuck around to clean up and pack things away, but other than that, it was quiet as ever. Peach lead her friend off to her room with little pestering from her servants, closing the door behind them as she turned to Mario.

"Alright, tonight's plans are getting you all cleaned up and lifting that sour mood of yours," the princess remarked, grabbing his bag and rummaging through it.

Mario huffed and firmly grabbed her by the wrist as he bitterly spat, "my bag, don't just go looking through it like that!" he nudged the princess off to the side, leaving her slightly dazed at the other's sudden aggressive demeanor.

"Mario? I know tonight's been rough, but...ah, well, just go head in the shower and I'll be getting ready out here..." Peach pursed her lips as she watched Mario grab his things out of his bag. He grunted as he went off to the bathroom with some spare clothes, leaving Peach to look through her vanity drawers. 

Mario took a scolding hot shower, staring down at the floor of the tub with a blank expression as he scrubbed at his hair and shoulders with fruity shampoo. Rinse and condition, he would have gotten out then, but he found himself sitting down in the tub, holding his legs to his chest. He didn't know how long he was in there, but it was only when he heard incessant knocking against the door when he realized it was too long.

"Did you die in there or something? I'm kind of waiting on you, you know."

He sighed, stumbling up. "Yeah, one second--" Mario shut off the stream of water, drying himself with a fluffy towel that hung against the pink wall. Slipping his attire on, along with his necklace, he stared at himself in the foggy mirror that he stared from a stepping stool that had already been sat in front of the counter.

He only managed to grab some green pajamas, and his usually fluffy moustache had become sleek and less defined. He appeared taller, too, and with the condensation against the mirror...

"Alright, I'm coming in." Peach jiggled the door open, stern expression fading from her face as she saw the other sniffling and shedding tears in the mirror. She walked over cautiously, reaching out a delicate hand to rest on Mario's shoulder. "...what happened?"

Mario shrugged and wiped his tears with his arm. "I've just, I'm s-sorry, I'm going through a tough time, I guess." He laughed solemnly as he continued, "just me still being sad from...from earlier."

Peach sighed, "we need to have a serious talk. Come on, I've got all my things all set up." She tugged gently on his arm as he pulled himself alongside his friend, being plopped down on the carpet across from the princess who had dragged out a basket of nail polish. "Gimmie your hand."

He sighed as he stuck out his left hand.

"Now," Toadstool began, "how about you start with what you've really been sad about lately?"

Mario hummed, leaning on his other hand. "I told you before, family stuff."

"Ah, come on, you know I hate it when you lie." She tsked, "come on now. You can tell me."

His eyes wandered around the room as he mumbled under his breath. "Well...

"I used to have a brother."


End file.
